Win once and you're in. Win twice and you're set. Lose and your season is over.

Such is the case for the Penn State men's rugby team going into this weekend's second round of the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union's (MARFU) playoffs.

One week after shutting out Virginia 29-0 in the first round, the Ruggers travel to Princeton tomorrow to face the University of Pennsylvania at 3:15 p.m.

The game will be held at Field 1 on the Princeton campus.

If the Ruggers win, they not only advance to the regional final but are also guaranteed a spot in the Sweet 16.

A loss would end the season for the No. 7 Ruggers.

Pennsylvania is coming off a 23-11 first-round win against Maryland, and the Ruggers are not going to take them lightly.

"They are a very physical team with most of their strength being out wide," junior Mike Petri said. "Luckily for us, we are pretty good outside as well and we match up quite well."

Last week the Ruggers needed their defense to step up and play a strong game, and this week the team has been working on adding pressure.

"We've been trying to create turnovers through more defensive pressure and exploiting it to our advantage," Petri said.

"With good support we should be able to open up our attack and have guys breaking through."

If players are breaking through, the Ruggers could then score more tries and make the defense's job that much easier.

If the Ruggers win tomorrow, they will face the winner of the Navy/Delaware game in the regional final.

That game would take place at 2:15 p.m. Sunday.

A win in that game would make the team a No. 1 seed heading into Nationals.

But Petri says the team has to take the playoffs one game at a time.

"We just can't look past this one game against Pennsylvania," Petri said. "A loss in the first game would be the season."

Petri said that he sees the back row players, especially junior Matt Miller, having a big game this weekend.

"He has been all over the place this season during games," Petri said. "But I can say that about a lot of people on this team."

Petri, a two-time All-American, has scored in every game in which he has played during the spring season.

One win would extend his season another two weeks, and two wins would give them a top spot in nationals.

"For us winning both games would make our Nationals run that much easier," Petri said. "Ultimately our goal is to be a top seed in the tournament and win it all."